Re: info format (was Re: Linux 2.2.11pre4)

Brian K. White (linut@squonk.net)
Mon, 09 Aug 1999 23:00:27 -0400

> From: "Mike A. Harris" <mharris@meteng.on.ca>
> Date: Sun, 8 Aug 1999 18:15:20 -0400 (EDT)
> Subject: Re: info format (was Re: Linux 2.2.11pre4)
>
> On Sun, 8 Aug 1999, Nathan Hand wrote:
>
> >> >> indexed and hyperlinked manual is much more valuable for those kinds of
> >> >> applications.
> >> >
> >> >man -s perl chop, then put all perl manpages in /usr/man/manperl. this is
> >> >an entirely solvable problem using the existing man package.
> >>
> >> [root@asdf sysconfig]# man -s perl chop
> >> man: invalid option -- s
> >> man, version 1.5f
> >
> >Bah, don't play dumb: man -S perl chop.
>
> To be quite honest, I was not "playing dumb". I know of the "-a,
> and -k" options to man, and when you suggested "-s" I tried it
> and it did not work. I did not do a "man man" to look further,
> as I figured that either you were wrong, or had a newer version
> of man than did I.
>
> When I execute the above command now I get:
>
> [root@asdf /etc]# man -S perl chop
> No manual entry for chop
>
> So, I have yet to see what you're describing. And I'm NOT
> playing dumb this time either.
>
> >A quick demonstration with man version 1.5d on a work machine.
> >
> > $ pwd
> > /usr/man/manperl
> > $ ls
> > chop.perl
> > $ man -S perl chop
> > ...
> > chop(perl) Perl Programmers Reference Guide chop(perl)
> > ...
> >
> >More advanced versions of the man package support "subsections", so you
> >can type "man -e perl chop" and view the man page chop(3perl).
> >
> >You don't need hyperlinked manuals. The "man" system is admittedly old
> >and cruddy, but well written and organised man pages make it better. I
> >don't think the current perlfunc(3) man page is very useful at all. It
> >would be far better to also have chop(perl) or chop(3perl).
>
> [root@asdf /etc]# cd /usr/man/manperl
> bash: /usr/man/manperl: No such file or directory
>
>
>
> - --
> Mike A. Harris Linux advocate GNU advocate
> Computer Consultant Open Source advocate
>

I don't know, it seemed pretty obvious to me right from the beginning of
this thread that he was describing how you *could* use existing man, not
that it was already set up that way. Yes of course you'd have to move or
symlink your perl man tree from from /usr/lib/perl/man or wherever, to
/usr/man/manperl first, then man perl <something> would work like man 8
<something> I'd already done this myself long long before this thread
ever came up anyways, I would have thought it was just one insignificant
aesthetic option completely beneath notice, let alone discussion, untill
I saw the discussion. :)

--
Brian~


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